Teething Myth Resolved

You have heard it more than once. You see a mom with her obviously sick child with snot running down his nose, congestion, maybe a cough, watery eyes."Oh, he's not sick, I promise, he is just teething." I have heard this so many times and have not been able to make the physiological connection to how this could possibly be true. I always say to myself, "that's nice, so why is he expressing cold like symptoms?"

I decided to go out and do some research with people who are actually educated on how the human body works. Guess what I found out? Just as I thought, a runny nose is NEVER a symptom of teething. A cough or congestion, also, NEVER a symptom of teething. I will share with you my research and where and who it came from with protecting the names of the doctors, as I have not asked their permission to share their names in connection with this research. 

"But for some reason, my child/baby gets a tooth after having these symptoms, explain that to me!" also something I have heard from numerous mothers. That's nice, but small children are teething rapidly for the first 2 years of their lives, constantly. Children are also, for the first several years of their lives, being exposed to new viral and bacterial infections every day, by their exploration of new things. A baby's immune system is somewhat vulnerable until it has had enough exposure to components of viruses and infections. Babies get sick a lot and that is normal.

Children are touching and playing with things that you probably have no idea they have been putting in their mouths. "The only connection I can make with teething and cold symptoms is that babies are more likely to eat or chew on anything and put everything in their mouths, giving them overexposure to germs." said a seasoned dental student. Yes, babies get sick, constantly, and yes, babies are teething constantly. As for a relation, it does not exist. 

The only cold-like symptom associated with teething is a slight fever.

 " I have never heard of teething causing cold like symptoms other than a very mild fever, and even that is debatable.  Teething normally causes red, irritated, possibly even bruised gums, and once in a while the gums may swell up like a little cyst on top of the tooth.  The mild fever is possibly only because while the tooth is cutting through the gums they bleed and the blood can pick up some of the oral bacteria causing an immune response to the oral bacteria in the form of a very mild fever.  Coughing or runny nose or congestion would not be from teething." says a pediatric dentist. 

"The only way to know if he is teething is by excessive drooling, swollen gums, fussiness, chewing on everything, or possibly a slight fever." says a local pediatrician. 

"A runny nose is never a symptom of teething," quoted from a baby Orajel tube. If your child has a runny nose or cold-like symptoms he either has a virus, infection or allergies. Let me just repeat one more time. Any cold-like symptoms are never a sign of teething, they are signs of sickness or allergies. Disagree all you want, say mother knows best, but most mothers also don't have a clear understanding of the physiological inner workings of the human body. Just thought I'd throw that out there. Yes, my opinions may be harsh but this is a judge free zone. 

*My opinions and the opinions of these doctors are privately protected and not to be republished without permission.